The Noise

Perhaps the funniest memory of Sophie came one night while we were gathered for family prayer.  We were kneeling around our parents' bed, and Sophie was on top of the bed.  One of the more irritating habits of Sophie was her incessant need to clean her nails.  She wouldn't just lick her paws while doing this, but she would bite into her nails with her teeth and start chonking on them.  It could get quite annoying to listen to.

While we were gathered around bed in prayer, Sophie laid on the bed cleaning her nails.  We put up with it for a while, but we were finding it increasingly difficult to refrain from interrupting prayer to get after her.  Finally, Dad, who was offering the prayer, had enough and stopped praying for a minute.  In my curiosity I looked up just in time to see him flip Sophie in the nose.

The result of this small flip is something that none of us could quite understand, but it created an epic moment for the four of us who were there to watch it.  When Dad flipped Sophie in the nose, it created a noise that reminds me of the sound a racquetball or a tennis ball makes when it is hit.  Kind of a suctiony, poppy sound.

As soon as the sound occurred I had a hard time controlling what little seriousness I possessed at this point.  It didn't really help that Dad, the one who got after on more than one occasion for being too noisy during prayer, struggled to finish praying because he was laughing too hard.  When prayer ended, we all enjoyed a great laugh at Sophie's expense.  We never heard such a noise again, although it may or may not have been attempted.

This wasn't the only time that Sophie interrupted us in moments like this.  She was often an interrupter during prayer and scripture reading, and we quickly learned that we needed to play board and card games at the kitchen table.  Whenever we would play a game on the family room floor, she would suddenly show up and trample right through the middle of the game.  I think she may have even laid down on top of games occasionally.  Funny thing is once our games were ruined, she would often leave us alone.  I don't think that she liked being excluded.

Sophie #2

As promised in my last post, I am going to post some of my favorite, or most memorable, memories of Sophie.

One of the first things that I thought of when I received the news of her passing occurred when I was in eighth grade.  This story fits into the most memorable category rather than favorite.  For some reason, I didn't have school while everyone else did--I think it was the time that the junior high plumbing kept belching, and school was only cancelled for the junior high.  For most of the day Sophie and I were alone together.  Sometime in the morning, I let her outside to use the facilities.  This was before the garage was built, and we let her out in the front yard to take care of business.

At this time there was a stray dog running around the neighborhood.  For those who knew Sophie knows that letting her out into the front yard was an open invitation for her to explore the world, and she always took off quite quickly too.  With that dog running around the neighborhood, Sophie immediately ran after it and chased it around the neighborhood.  With no one else home, I was left to chaser alone.  Because I was able to stay home all day, I was still in my pajamas--a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.  I didn't have any shoes or socks on, and there were a few inches of snow on top of a layer of ice on the ground. 

When I was finally able to corner her and pick her up, I started to carry her home from the other end of the street.  Keep in mind that I was probably only 12, and she was a very large dog.  I got a few houses away from ours when I had to put her down for a second because my arms were really tired.  She immediately took off again.  I don't remember how long I was actually chasing her, but I do think that I was a little bit cold by the time a neighbor finally assisted me in getting her in the house.

If I remember right, this was the same day that she chewed through a pen and got ink all over the carpet, and I tried desperately to get it out before Mom got home.  Speaking of Sophie and pens, I happened to find a Sophie pen soon after she died.

She was just like me and like to chew on those things.  Sorry for the bad picture, my cameras didn't want to take a very good picture of it.

In Remembrance

Two weeks ago I had to face a day that I knew was coming for some time.  My heart just sank as I woke up to the e-mail and saw the subject line.  Our beloved Sophie past away.  I knew it was coming for some time because the last time I saw her she was in terrible shape, and I kept receiving reports that she wasn't much better.  It was a very hard day for me because we all knew that I was her favorite, after all she would only roll over for me.  I've been wondering for some time how to say goodbye to someone who has been a part of my life for 11 years and was my best friend for much of that time.  She was always there to comfort me when I was down, and she made sure to stick her nose in my face when I was asleep while sick.  I don't think that it was quite as painful as losing a sibling or a parent, but I would say that it is pretty close.  She will definitely be missed.  With this post I have collected all pictures of her that I could get hold of, and will post some of my favorites.

Just a few years ago

A rare moment when we caught attempting to sleep

Another great picture of her trying to sleep

Another of her favorite activities, removing the squeaker from toys

This picture and the next were among several that I found in a batch of my old pictures, unfortunately many of them were of Sophie in the shadows.  You can't really see her.

Another favorite activity, putting up with the grandkids until she had enough and ran away.

Protecting Kirsten from her date

She will always be our Dodger Dog

Will definitely miss the Big Red Rock Eater, Kung-Fu Puppy, etc.

Thanks for the memories Sophie!

In case anyone happens to have other pictures of Sophie, I would love to have them.  Also when I get more time, I will post some of my favorite stories of Sophie.  I would also love to hear favorite stories that others have.  Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me.